Case for folding rulers



. H. RUTLEDGE.

CASE FOR FOLDING RULERS.

APPLICATION FILED MAY Y. 1920.

Patented Aug. 31, 1920.

w. N Mx T T A t ifa J AMES HABE!" RUTLELDGE, F PITTSBURG, SAS.

CASE FOR FOLDNG- RULERS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Ang. 39250.

Application filed Mey 7, 1920. Serial No. 379,579.

y" i i (Uitl fio/7mm it may conce/rn.'

lle it known that l, JAMES H, RUTLEDGE,

a, citizen of the llnited States, residing` at Pittsburg, in the county ci Crawford and State of Kansas, hare invented certain new andnseiul .improvements in lCases tor Fo lding Rulers; and l do hereby declare thefollowing to be a lnll, clear, and exact description oi' the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

lhisinvention relates to new and useful improvements in cases especially adapted for hold'ng' rulers and pencils and has tor .its primary object the provision ot a device oi'3 the above stated character which may be easily and securely fastened to a persons z i.nnient and which will receive and hold a pencil and ruler and prevent the sameirom becoming lost.

Another obiect oi this invention is the provision oit an iniecting` means within the ruler chamber oi the case adapted to automatically more the ruler outwardly ci' said chamber 'when ifreed by a catch so that said ruler may be easily gripped and removed rer use.

l further object oit this invention is the n et a case for folding' rulers and n s i ils of the above elated character, which shall he simple, du able and etlicient, and which :may` r anniactnred and sold at a comparatively low cost.

jWith these and other objects in View as will becoinc more apiiarentas the description proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel 'features of construction, combination, and a parts as will be hereinafter described and claimed. l

For a complete understanding of my invention, reference is to he had to the following' description, and accompanying drawings, in which n Figure l is a 'iront elevation, illustrating` a case :tor a folding rule constructed in accordance with my invention.

F 2 is a verticalV sectional View illustating the same.

Ill'.

F 8 is a rear elevation, illustrating the means or' securing the case to a persons garment.

Fig. lis a sectional view taken on the line 4,-4 ot Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a sectional View 5,-5 of Fig. `3.

Fig. G is a. detail perspective View illustrating" a catch.

Referring in detail to the drawing, the numeral vl indicates as an entirety a case which has one end open to form a ruler receiving` chamber 2 while its other end is closed by an end wall 3. The case l includes front, lrear and side walls'and the front and sidev walls are oi an integral construction while Ythe rear wall projects beyond the side walls to form an attaching flange, and said side walls are bent about said attaching' flange and secured thereto in any well known manner.

in ejecting plate 4 is located within the chamber 2 and, tree to slide therein and is secured to coil springs 5 which are in turn secured to the end wall 3 and said eject'ing plate d is transversely curved to form a seat for receiving the end of an ordinaryfolding or carpenters rule 6. W hen the ejecting plate lis in its uppermost position, the rule taken on the line extends outwardly of the chamber 2 so that the saine can be readily gripped for removing the saine from said chamber for use.

catch Y has termed thereon a barrel El to receive a pintl-e 9 that is ournaled in one et the flanges of the rear wall and an ear l0 formed on the case so that the head l1 of said catch maymove across the open end oli the chamber 2 Afor engaging' the end of the ruler and holdinga the saine fully within the chamber and with the ejecting plate el moved downwardly against thel tension oit the springs 5. rlllie catch? is oil'set as illusl tratcd at l2 adjacent the barrel 8 and has seated therein a coil spring` 13 which has one end secured to one ot' the sidewalls of the case l and is adapted to normally urge the head ll over the open end ol' the case. The head ll is provided with an inclined portion lll adapted to permit a ruler to he readily inserted within the case and when said ruler contacts with the inclined portion ll causes the catch to swing' on its pivot against the tension of the spring,l and when the ruler has passed beyond said head the spring` 13 forces the catch to rock on its pivot and position the head ll over the end oi? the ruler retaining` said ruler fully within the chamber 2. A guard plate l5 is formed on the offset portion of the catch l2 and overlies and conceals the spring 13 and prevents the same from being injured during the use of the device. The catch 7 after forming the offset portion 12 is extended or bent to form a linger grip 16 whereby said catch can be readily swung on its pivot to disengage the head 11 from the ruler and permit the ejecting plate 4 to force said ruler partially out of the chamber. j

A. pair of fastening elements 17 have one of their ends secured to the rear wall adjacent the open end of the chamber 2 and their other ends are pointed so that said fastening elements can be conveniently inserted through a garment. A keeper 18 is secured to the rear wall adjacent the end wall 3 and isV adapted to receive the free ends of the fastening elements 17 after being passed through the garment whereby Vsaid case is 'firmly secured tothe garment of a person.

The keeper 18 consists of a plate 19 that has one edge secured to the front wall of the'case by a wall 20 and has its opposite edge secured to said case by a tongue 21 which isradapted to form a stop to prevent the fastening elements 17 from moving in the direction or engagement with each other when held in a closed position by the keeper. The side edges of the plate 19 have formed thereon'inwardly directed flanges 23 which l are adapted to prevent accidental disengagement of the fastening elements 17 from the keeper during the use of the device..

A cylindrical housing 24 is soldered or otherwise secured to one side wall of the case 1 and is adapted to form a pencil holder and Vhas secured within the same and adjacent its upper end a curved leaf spring 25 adapted to be compressed on the insertion of a pencil in the holder and which will prevent said pencil accidentally slipping or falling out of the holder.

While l have shown and described the preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that minor changes in construction, combination, and arrangement of parts may be made without departing vfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is 1. A device of the character set forth comprising a ruler receiving chamber, ruler ej ecting means in said chamber, means lock` ing a ruler in said chamberA against the ejectingmeans, and a pencil holder carried by said chamber. j

2. A case for rulers comprising a body having a ruler receiving chamber, ejecting means in said chamber, a spring actuated catch carried by said body and retaining a ruler within said chamber, vand a pencil holder formed on said body.

3. A case for rulers comprising a body having a ruler receiving chamber, an ejecting plate slidably mounted in said chamber, tension means secured to said plate and to the body, a spring actuated catch carried by the body and retaining vthe ruler within said chamber, and a pencil holder secured to said body.

4. A case for rulers comprising a body having a ruler receiving chamber, an ejecting plate transversely curved and slidably mounted within said chamber, tension means connected to said plate and to the body, a spring actuated catch pivoted to the body and overlying'the end of aV ruler to retain the same in the chamber, and a pencil holder secured to the body.

5. A. case for a ruler comprising a body having'one end open to form a ruler receiving chamber, ejecting means in said cham ber, a catch pivoted to the body, a head formed on said catch and overlying the open end of said chamber for engagement with the end of the ruler, an oll'set portion formed in said catch, a guard formed on the offset portion and closing one side thereof,

a spring interposed between the offset portion and the body, a linger grip formed on said offset portion.

In testimony whereof l afX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

J. G. MARsIE. 

